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On November 5, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano held his regular press conference. He commented on the content of the meeting of cabinet members concerned with the issue of Afghanistan reconstruction assistance, saying “We decided to hold closed-door discussions regarding the kind of assistance we are able to provide, bearing in mind past developments.”
With regard to the refuelling operations being carried out by SDF forces in the Indian Ocean, Hirano said that the administration was proceeding to draw up new assistance policies focusing on civilian efforts aimed at stabilising Afghanistan, and that thorough cabinet level discussions on this issue had been conducted, and added, “I think that we have now reached the stage where it is up to the Prime Minister to make a decision.”
In another press conference held later that same day, Hirano reported that the second meeting of the strategy headquarters established in order to revitalise Japan Airlines had been held under the authority of Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Maehara, and that they were now studying how a comprehensive revitalisation of the airline could be achieved.
Following a remark made by Prime Minister Hatoyama on November 4 regarding the interpretation of the Constitution in which the collective right to self-defence is not permitted, a reporter asked under what specific conditions changing the interpretation of the Constitution might be necessary. Hirano said he was not able to engage in hypothetical discussions, but expressed the following basic position: 1. under the Hatoyama Cabinet, at the current time the interpretation of the Constitution remains unchanged from that of previous administrations, 2. decisions regarding interpretations of the Constitution within the government will be made by the cabinet composed of the designated cabinet members at that time, and 3. decisions regarding the Constitution are extremely important and so must be made with caution.
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